Oct 17 2018

From The Space Library

MEDIA ADVISORY M18-154 NASA to Host Briefings, Events for ICON Launch to Study Space Weather

NASA will host a series of media briefings leading up to the Friday, Oct. 26, launch of its Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission to study the dynamic zone high in the atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above.

The launch and briefings, which begin Wednesday, Oct. 24, will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

The spacecraft, which is undergoing final preparations, will launch aboard a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The 90-minute launch window will open at 4 a.m. EDT. The deadline for media to apply for accreditation for this launch has passed.

Mission coverage is as follows:

Wednesday, Oct. 24

   1 p.m. – ICON Mission Briefing

Although the deadline has passed to attend the briefing, media can ask questions via phone. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact Kennedy’s News Center at 321-867-2468.

Thursday, Oct. 25

   3 p.m. – NASA EDGE program

NASA EDGE will broadcast live from Cape Canaveral to discuss the ICON spacecraft operations, science, and engineering. In addition, NASA EDGE will highlight the launch processing of the L-1011 Stargazer with the Pegasus rocket.

Friday, Oct. 26

   3:45 a.m. – Launch coverage begins

ICON will study the ionosphere, where terrestrial and space weather meet. This dynamic zone, high in Earth’s atmosphere, can be a source of great beauty – such as the aurora – but also can be disruptive to radio communications, satellites and astronaut health. ICON will help determine the physical processes at play in this frontier of space, thus paving the way for mitigation of these disruptive effects.

MEDIA ADVISORY M18-153 NASA Invites Media to Northrop Grumman Cygnus Launch from Virginia

Media accreditation now is open for the launch from Virginia of Northrop Grumman’s 10th commercial resupply services mission to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies and equipment to the International Space Station aboard its Cygnus spacecraft.

Northrop Grumman is targeting liftoff, on its Antares launch vehicle, no earlier than 4:49 a.m. EST Nov. 15 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island.

To cover the prelaunch and launch activities at Wallops, international media without U.S. citizenship must apply for credentials by Thursday, Oct. 25. The application deadline for media who are U.S. citizens is Thursday, Nov. 8.

U.S. media also are invited to Wallops to speak with NASA and Northrop Grumman officials about the upcoming mission, and view and photograph the Cygnus spacecraft, at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24. The deadline for accreditation for this opportunity is noon Tuesday, Oct. 23.

Officials available for interviews at this event include:

• Kathleen Boggs, Systems and Technology Demonstration manager, International Space Station Division, NASA Headquarters
• Rick Mastracchio, former NASA astronaut and senior director of Operations, Commercial Resupply Services Program at Northrop Grumman
• Kurt Eberly, Antares vice president at Northrop Grumman

All accreditation requests must be sent to Keith Koehler at keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov.

Each resupply mission to the station delivers scientific investigations in the areas of biology and biotechnology, Earth and space science, physical sciences, and technology development and demonstrations.

Highlights of space station research that will be facilitated by research aboard this Cygnus are:

• An investigation into the complex process of cement solidification to explore how gravity levels like those on the Moon and Mars may potentially affect concrete hardening.
• Research to develop a mathematical model for how an astronaut’s perception of motion, body position and distance to objects changes in space.
• A test of the first integrated 3D printer and recycler to turn waste plastic materials into high-quality 3D-printer filament to create tools and materials, a key capability for future long-duration space missions beyond low-Earth orbit.

Included in the cargo are investigations that will enable U.S. National Laboratory research, which is managed by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space. They include a physical sciences investigation to evaluate a method for producing fiber optic cable in space and astrophysics research to examine the formation of chondrules, some of the oldest material in the solar system.

Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver critical science research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA's ability to conduct new investigations at the only laboratory in space.